Updates and Articles
SMW Serves as City Attorney for Cupertino
The firm begins serving as the City Attorney's Office for the City of Cupertino in February 2019 with Heather Minner serving as the City Attorney.
Read MoreState Approves Shoreline Park, Rejects Hotel, in Burlingame
In 2019 the firm represents the SPHERE Institute in defeating a waterfront hotel proposal on state public trust land and wins state approval for Burlingame Shoreline Park in its place.
Read MoreSF Homeless Navigation Center Defended
The firm assists the Office of the San Francisco City Attorney in successfully defending the San Francisco Port's 2019 approval of the Embarcadero SAFE Navigation Center, a high-service shelter for adults experiencing homelessness. (Safe Embarcadero for All v. State of California (2019).)
Read MoreSMW Helps Launch Affordable Senior Housing Project in Redwood City
The firm assists Midpen Housing Corporation in 2019 to secure land exchange agreements between the state, Redwood City, and private owners necessary to develop the Arroyo Green project, bringing 117 affordable senior housing units to downtown Redwood City.
Read MoreTruckee Workforce Housing Support
The firm assists the Martis Fund in an innovative 2019 grant supporting development of 77 units of affordable housing in Truckee.
Read MoreSMW Authors National Best Practice Guide for Renewable Energy Interconnection
The firm prepares major updates to the Interstate Renewable Energy Council's Model Interconnection Procedures in 2019. States across the country now look to this publication when seeking to improve the ability of distributed energy resources to access the grid.
Read MoreCalifornia Improves Ability to Host New Renewable Energy Resources
Thanks in large part to the firm's advocacy on behalf of the Interstate Renewable Energy Council, in 2019 California radically increases transparency regarding the ability of the distribution system to host new renewable energy resources.
Read MoreHalf Moon Bay Adopts Minimum Wage Ordinance
With the firm's assistance, the City of Half Moon Bay in 2019 becomes the 50th city in the nation to adopt a local minimum wage ordinance.
Read MoreSMW Serves as General Counsel to Pleasant Hill Recreation and Park District
The firm begins serving as General Counsel to the Pleasant Hill Recreation and Park District in 2019.
Read MoreA Win for Public Health: Oil Wells Stalled in Arvin
Together with the Center on Race, Poverty and the Environment, the firm represents the Committee for a Better Arvin in a successful challenge to the City of Arvin's approval of oil wells that would have threatened public health in a residential neighborhood. (Committee for a Better Arvin v. City of Arvin (2019).)
Read MoreProperty Purchase, Bridge Provide Needed Link Between State and Regional Parks In Alameda County
Photo Credit: SelfieCity, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons The firm assists the Tri-Valley Conservancy (TVC) in 2009 to acquire the Bobba property, a key linkage in Livermore between Del Valle State Park and Sycamore Grove Park. The firm then helps TVC in 2019 with funding, contracting, and construction of a bridge crossing to connect two trails within the park and provide critical and accessible outdoor recreational...
Read MoreSMW Drafts State Legislation to Facilitate Land Conservation and Restoration
Photo Credit: West Marin Environmental Action Committee from "Parks Are For Everyone" In 2019 the firm drafts and helps secure passage of state legislation enabling public agencies to acquire threatened lands and prepare an environmental review for restoration efforts after first protecting the land from development.
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